Extinction Rebellion hold three day pilgrimage to protest against oil drilling in Dorset

Shaftesbury’s branch of Extinction Rebellion, along with the Save Our Shores environmental group, held the three day walk to protest against oil drilling in Dorset, including at Wytch Farm, western Europe’s largest on shore oil field.

The pilgrims set off from Shaftesbury on the first day and walked to Blandford. Richard Ecclestone, one of the event’s organisers, estimated that about 35 activists began the walk that day.

The number of pilgrims on the walk waxed and waned throughout the three days, but they were supported and fed by a wellbeing crew at their stops.

On the second day, the team walked from Blandford to Wareham, and then from Wareham to Studland, where they gathered to form the Extinction Rebellion’s hourglass logo for an aerial shot.

Despite the weather being frequently foul, and despite the pilgrims needing to wade for part of the way on Sunday due to flooding, the activists persevered and made their way to the finish line successfully.

Mr Ecclestone estimates that around 100 people showed up for the finish event at Studland.

He said: “We were all pretty tired, but there was a sense of achievement. There was a sense of solidarity. It is helping to get the truth out there to the public.”

At Studland, the pilgrims gathered to listen to speakers from Extinction Rebellion and Save Our Shores, as well as Charles Miller - who has experience working in the gas industry - talk about climate issues.

Extinction Rebellion is an environmental activism group dedicated to raising awareness for the climate emergency and pressure governments into action to prevent ecological catastrophe.

Its three key demands are the declaration of a climate emergency, the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2025 and the creations of a Citizens’ Assembly to work on climate and ecological justice. A spokesman claimed the Dorset coast was ‘under threat’ from more oil exploration and extraction.